Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Welcome to the Daycare…! So happy to have you here. We are very excited to be taking care of Mr. Ludwig’s child today. We will do everything we can to make it an incredible and fun experience for them. We are so grateful to his service in keeping our power up and running…!” One of the employees, a thin brunette looking to be around 25 years old waved to the adult, glancing down at the kid standing beside them.

The two who were greeted were an average height woman with slightly tan skin, green eyes, and black hair. She wore a nice pale blue button up blouse, a pair of gray slacks with black stockings, and black flats. A small brown purse was on her right shoulder. The 27 year old woman was very approachable compared to the kid beside her. The kid was a little taller than the average ten year old, with brunette hair, bangs that covered their forehead and hair swept over to the sides of their face that covered their ears somewhat. Making it so that only the tops of the kid’s ears poked out from the middle of their shoulder length hair. They wore a dark blue turtle neck and black work pants, the kind that electricians would wear, and a pair of lavender Pradas. They also wore a set of expensive looking glasses that completely hid their eyes with black tinted shades. Making it look like they had two square holes cut out into their pale face.

The nanny (number 23 as the kid called them) smiled politely and gave the employee a short bow.

“It’s great to be here today. Hugo is likely going to need someone to interact with, but they can be rather creative when it comes to things they feel are…not as smart as them. But I hear that you have some rather advanced technology here.” The nanny looked down at the child in question and held a hand out to them. “Hopefully that piques your interest.”

The child looked up at the nanny before looking at the employee. “Vat is zee center like?” Their tone was rather flat for a child and there was a noticeable German accent to it, not too heavy though and what they said could be understood. When Hugo didn’t take the nanny’s hand, she simply let her arm rest by her side. Letting the child speak as she knew that they were opinionated.

“We do have a lot of advanced technology here…! Everything we have is state-of-the-art! I think it’s going to be a very educational, yet fun, experience.” The employee said, crouching down a little to meet the kid’s gaze.

“It’s a lot of fun…! You’re really lucky to have the entire place to yourself. Usually, it’s very crowded, but your dad made sure you could experience everything all by yourself. He must care about you a whole lot…!” She smiled brightly. “There are so many activities to choose from. You could play in the ball pit, or crawl through the tubes, or do some arts and crafts…! There’s a bunch of other things too, but it really all depends on what you’re most interested in…. Now, what’s your name?”

Hugo’s glasses were heavily tinted to protect their eyes from the light outside and inside. Hard to tell what color their eyes were even at close proximity. “My name is Hugo. Hugo Ludvig.” They answered and thought about the response the employee gave. None of that seemed very interesting to them, perhaps there were some other more interesting things they could find.

“It’s great to meet you, Hugo…!” The employee said with a bright smile. “My name is Francesca. Sometimes, children will enter the daycare through the slide, but for today, we can go through the main doors.”

The nanny could tell that Hugo was thinking of more questions that they may not like the answer to and jumped in.

“That sounds lovely! Would you mind leading us there? You could tell us some of the history behind the franchise on the way!” She clasped her hands together but her smile was a little more strained. It seemed she wanted to get Hugo to the place before they had any more time to think.

“Of course!” Francesca began to lead them towards the daycare area. “Now, the franchise has been going for a very long time. We used to be a small little pizzeria before we found a bit of success and decided to upgrade. Everyone just loves the band, so we were able to get enough money to put some love and care into creating the best animatronics the world could ask for.” She obviously conveniently left out the scandals. They had spent a lot of time making sure those weren’t dredged up again.

“Now, we’ve been under new ownership for some time, but the vision is clearly very popular. Just about everyone who comes here adores what’s been done with these ideas.”

The group approached the big wooden doors, with giant bubble letters above it to announce that they had arrived at the daycare. It was an entirely juvenile setup with big clouds painted amongst a bunch of other brightly colored designs.

The nanny was quick to follow Francesca, making it so Hugo had to follow them if the kid didn't want to fall behind. The child looked around as they walked towards the daycare. Noting the small eating areas and the gift shops. Passively listening to what the employee said. Then, they entered a large room and the kid didn’t seem all that impressed with the brightness of it. They noticed one of the rooms seemed to be a party room, probably for birthdays, and they looked up and saw a second floor that ran around the playground. Hugo tilted their head up even more at the netting all around, noting that it seemed to be connected to some sort of plexiglass. Maybe something else.
The nanny spoke up to bring Hugo’s attention away from their surroundings for now.

“I heard that Freddy and the gang were from the 1980’s! Though I don’t ever recall them having a designated friend for a daycare. Is this character newer?” She asked pleasantly and Hugo looked at Francesca before looking at the doors. The wood seemed sturdy.

Francesca nodded a few times. “You’d be right…! Sun is one of the newer characters, along with DJ Music Man- though DJ Music Man did have a few iterations before this one that you could probably point out if you had been to some of our other restaurants in the past.” She tapped her chin. “Monty’s also a newish character too, though I think he showed his face in a few locations— definitely was more of a country boy before he was reimagined here.” She chuckled.

“But either way, Sun is a Pizzaplex original…! You won’t find him anywhere before this place was built.” She added with a confident nod, unlocking the doors and beginning to open them up. The door was large and heavy, making a loud creaking noise as it was pushed open. The inside of the daycare was even brighter than the area surrounding it. Each pile of cushions was neatly stacked and the place looked meticulously well-kept, at the very least. Though, obnoxious music could be heard echoing through the area. Pretty soon, the clanking of metal feet hurrying over, paired with the jingling of bells, could be heard approaching them as the animatronic was alerted to their location. He couldn’t be seen yet, but by the thumping sounds of the footsteps, it could be implied that he was pretty heavy.

The nanny nodded along and Hugo did pay a little more attention. So this animatronic was a newer invention. A newer personality for this brand… they wondered what the Pizzaplex created. The child was a little hesitant to enter as the footsteps could be heard all the way from wherever this robot was, but the nanny gave Hugo a small nudge forward. Smiling encouragingly.

“Come on Hugo, let’s go say our hellos.”

Hugo looked up at the nanny in disapproval.

“Sie sind die erste Nummer dreiundzwanzig, wir sollten besser sehen, ob wir eine vierundzwanzig brauchen.”
(You first number twenty-three, we should probably see if we need a twenty-four.)

The child coldly stated, causing the nanny to sigh and step forward to greet what was coming. Hugo stayed at the door frame.

Francesca just smiled politely, though her brows creased a little when she saw the nanny sigh. The employee didn’t know what was said, but it didn’t take a genius to see that Hugo’s words were unkind based on the nanny’s changed expression.

“I’m sure you’re going to have a great time here. Sun is always so happy to meet new people and he’s very good at learning what preferences people have and what they’re most likely to enjoy best.” She assured them as the footsteps got closer.

And then it turned the corner, the animatronic towering at around seven feet tall. For a being that made such heavy footsteps, you’d never expect him to be so gangly-looking. He also seemed pretty light on his feet, easily bouncing towards them without any indication of being weighed down.

“Hellooo!” The animatronic sang out, voice resounding. “Good morning! Welcome to the Superstar Daycare! And what’s the name of our newest friend?” White eyes were quick to focus on Hugo.

“Good morning, Sun…!” Francesca said, waving at him before looking at Hugo. “Don’t be shy, why don’t you introduce yourself?”

Hugo’s attention was immediately drawn to the lanky and tall animatronic that sang at them. It looks…terrible. Too skinny for its size, the face looked pretty uncanny and the tooth-baring grin was honestly pretty unnerving, and it being a jester might have explained the look somewhat. But Hugo wondered why this robot was taking care of toddlers? The nanny waved to Sun and stepped to the side to block Sun’s view for a moment. The nanny may not have always liked the kid but their protection was still her priority.

“Hello there! Good morning yourself, ah this is Hugo and I am Delilah, their nanny. Hugo’s a little wary of you since you’re unfamiliar to them.” Delilah leaned over and playfully smiled. “I’m the sacrificial lamb according to them.”

The nanny backed off and giggled, and Hugo folded their arms. They didn’t seem all that happy to be made fun of (at least in their eyes).

“Hugo and Delilah! Oh, what wonderful names!” Sun replied, clasping his hands together. “That’s alright! I’ve dealt with tons of shy kids before!” Sun leaned to the side a little to try to get a better look at Hugo before standing back up to his full height and looking towards the Nanny. Usually, he’d laugh along with any type of joking tone, but using ‘sacrificial lamb’ as a description was certainly… not his kind of humor.

“I wouldn’t worry about a thing, Miss Delilah! Hugo is in good hands! I have such a fun day planned for us! It’ll be just the two of us so I’ll be giving them 100% of my attention!”

Again, Sun leaned to the side. “Hi, Hugo…!” He cooed.

“Hugo’s a little older than the ones Sun usually takes care of, but I have no doubts that he’ll be more than capable of caring for them.” Francesca explained.

Hugo wasn’t a fan of any of this, but being described as ‘shy’ might work in their favor. Even if they weren’t happy with it. They cautiously entered the room, standing behind the nanny. “…hello.” They greeted him quietly and Delilah looked down at Hugo. It was a new reaction for them and she didn’t quite trust it, but continued talking normally.

“Hugo shouldn’t be too much trouble even if they’re a bit older than the children you normally look after. They’re usually asleep a couple hours from now. Their schedule is a bit different than most people, heh!” The nanny looked up at Sun and smiled.

“Just make sure they don’t lose their glasses. Their eyes are very sensitive to light that it physically hurts them to be out during a sunny day or inside with regular lighting. Hugo’s also very smart! And I’m talking about an upcoming prodigy. So be on the lookout for any schemes they may come up with!”

The nanny chirped, causing Hugo to look at her with a glare. They wished they could kick the nanny in the shins for warning the robot, but the trouble wasn’t worth it. So instead they walked away from Delilah and started to wander the play area.

Sun tilted his head when the Nanny said they couldn’t be without their glasses. That it physically hurt to be in the light. He seemed sympathetic to this fact, holding his hands together. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry to hear it…! Must be awfully sad to live without seeing sunlight. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that their glasses stay right where they need to be! I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt…!” He tilted his head to the other side at their second statements. Everyone thinks their child is a prodigy. Sun had a lot of thoughts about that, but kept it to himself. Instead, he giggled and nodded eagerly.

“You got it! I’ll keep an eye out! You can count on me!” He did a little salute, the sun rays spinning on the axis of his faceplate.

Sun whirled around, alert at the very moment that Hugo began wandering a little too far from him. His eye lights brightened slightly. “Oh boy, someone’s eager! Well, I better get to it! Very nice to meet you, Miss Delilah!” Sun waved at her and quickly began following Hugo, running as fast as he could to catch up. “H— Hey, friend! Wait up! We haven’t even gone over the rules yet!”

“And there they go. Sun is very attentive, they’ll be just fine.” Francesca hummed, writing down a phone number on a piece of paper. “If you need anything, feel free to call me up. I’ll be more than happy to help if you need directions or want to check in on Hugo…!” She said to Delilah.

Delilah took the number and nodded. “Thank you very much. Hopefully Hugo isn’t too much of a handful…they really know how to push a person's buttons.” She looked out at where Hugo and Sun disappeared to. “Perhaps Sun will have an advantage being programmed to take care of kids.”

Francesca nodded. “We haven’t had any issues with Sun.” She replied. A full lie, but what the news stations hadn’t picked up, she wasn’t obligated to admit. “Anyway, he usually handles around 40 kids at a time, so I can’t imagine that one kid would be too much for him.” She assured her. “I’ll be around, please reach out if you need anything…!”

Delilah smiled a little bit, but there was some concern in her eyes as she knew Hugo wasn’t a standard child. Even if their father wasn’t a wealthy man, the kid would still likely be sort of problematic due to their pretty high intelligence. But, that wasn’t going to be her problem for the day. She just hoped the kid didn’t end up breaking the animatronic. She followed the employee out so she could take a small break.

Francesca waved and closed the wooden doors to the daycare, effectively locking Hugo in there with Sun.

Speaking of, Hugo glanced back at Sun, who was quickly trailing behind them, but the kid continued on without waiting for him to catch up. They didn’t go for any of the play structures, instead simply walking around and getting an idea of the layout. They stopped at the ball pit and looked it over. Head turning towards the slide that seemed to lead back up towards the outside. It was a possible way out…but difficult to get to with all the plastic balls in the way.

“…Vat are zee rules.” The child asked flatly once the sun themed robot caught up to them. They didn’t seem to show much emotion outside the displeasure with the nanny.

“Oookay!” Sun said, bouncing from side to side. “We have just a couple rules to follow! No hitting, no cussing, no gum-chewing, no pooping on the floor, and the most important rule is to aaaalways make sure the lights stay on.” He fidgetted a little, looking around before giggling. “But I don’t think we’ll have any issues! You don’t seem like the type to do any of that.” The animatronic tilted his head.

“Now let’s talk about all the fun activities I’ve got planned for us!” He said, clapping his hands. “We’ve got arts and crafts, ball pit, dancing, story time, oh oh ohhhh, or we could climb through the tubes and play pretend!”

The child listened to Sun when he talked about the rules, all easy to follow, but they pondered about the lights rule. They would want them off at some point. Would allow them to take their glasses off, especially if they need to charge them as they weren’t just a normal pair of shades. They turned to walk away but the tower caught their eye. It looked like you could enter it. They started to walk towards it.

“I vant to explore zee room.” They stated as they crossed over the bridge to get to the tower.

“Oh boy!” Sun called out. “A tour is the perfect way to start our fun!” He bounded after them like an excited golden retriever. He noticed them walking towards the tower, mistaking it for interest in the ball pit. “Do you like the ball pit? Huh?? That’s one of my favorite things in the entire daycare! I could spend the whooole day in there if they let me!” He explained, glancing up towards the stage. “And up there is where I come out of in the morning once I’m all ready to start my day!” He gestured. “Fun, right! That stage is off limits, though, obviously! It’s way too high up.”

Hugo passed the ball pit with not even so much as a second glance. Walking up to the tower and entering through the small opening. Sun perked as he watched them head inside of the tower. They were exploring! Good! They’d be having fun in no time!

Hugo went up and looked around once they got to the top. It wasn’t as high up as they’d thought it would be, but it did allow them to notice the small gap between the net and the glass. Another way out, but it was also a difficult one to try. Probably more difficult than the slide, Hugo looked over the play structure with the new view point. This corner was out of the way, not entirely easy to see from certain areas…they looked up at the protrusion in the wall above the ball pit.

“…Do you jump down from zere? Or is zere an extendable ramp or ladder you use?” They looked at the animatronic. “Who is alloved up zere besides yourself? Vat kind of space is it up zere?”

Sun glanced back at the stage and then gestured to some wires that were set up at a few different spaces on the walls. Naturally, they were pinned to the walls pretty high so that little hands couldn’t reach them. “Sometimes, I use the wires and sometimes I jump down! Usually, I jump! The ball pit is fun to dive into.” He replied, though turned around so he could show them the loop on his back. “Buuut I always use the wires when I need to get back up! It is not easy to climb that wall. The wires hook up right here.” He excitedly pointed. “It’s almost like I can fly!”

Looking at the wires high above, Hugo nodded. Good to know this robot had the ability to ‘fly’. Wouldn’t want to be caught by surprise by that.

Sun turned back to them, hands on his hips. “Only certified technicians are allowed up there, but honestly no one really visits. I can’t remember the last time we had someone up there, actually!” He hummed, tapping his chin. “Anyway, up there’s just my room! It’s where I go when I’m not here. I have a biiiig nice bed, cozy sheets, pillows, and a night light. At the end of the day, I get all cozy and I rest up for the next one.” Sun effortlessly lied. It’s the one lie that had been practically programmed into him to make him more lifelike to children. “My night light has a big star on it!” Sun bragged, putting his hand to his chest. “Pretty neat, huh!”

The room didn’t sound very interesting to the kid, and the nightlight comment didn’t seem to stir much of a reaction.

“Night lights are useful to use in getting arount dark rooms. Zey don’t hurt mine eyes at least.” They said, turning and climbing down from the tower.

“They are useful for even more than that!” Sun replied, instinctively getting closer to the tower and holding his hands out to catch them if they fell. “You could do shadow puppets on the walls, or you could use it to read stories, and best of all— it keeps the monsters away! The worst monsters love the dark. Night lights keep you safe from that.” He said, keeping his arms outstretched for them.

Hugo climbed down without much issue, their descent was a little slow as they made sure to have a good hold or footing as they climbed down. Though they did observe Sun’s behavior for their safety. They looked up at the animatronic once they got both feet on the playmat floor.

“Zee only monsters zat exist are ozer humans and nocturnal animals. I vould take my chances vith an animal.” They said and started leaving the tower behind. Hugo didn’t believe in monsters and as such weren’t afraid of the concept. They headed over to the other side of the room now.

Sun, as expected, trailed closely behind them. “Nu-uh!” He argued. “Monsters exist! Trust me, I’ve seen them before!” The animatronic held his hands together. “They don’t have to be people or animals…! They can be something else! That’s why we need nightlights. We don’t want any spooks sneaking up on us…!”

Sun tilted his head. “Oh! You’re going towards the tubes now! Those are for climbing! Most of the time, everyone likes to pretend that they’re hamsters going through hamster tubes.” His eyes brightened and he let out a shrill giggle. “That’s a really fun one!”

The kid walked around the outer part of the playground, not entering or taking an interest in the tubes. They’d likely fit (the kid was only 4’7”) but maybe they’d eventually get around to climbing up to the top part of it. Instead they paused at the front area they had entered through. Taking notice of the security desk and they began to walk towards it.

“Vat if zee monster is me? The dark is mine home, and everyone else vanderink in it is a stranger.”

Sun’s tone became much more sympathetic. “Aww, no…! Of course not! You’re not a monster! You’re much too nice to be one of those. Monsters are mean. Just because your eyes can’t handle light doesn’t make you a monster. Now, if you were mean for no reason, that would be different.” He explained.

The moment that Sun saw where they were going, he quickly scooped them up into his arms. “Whoops! That area is off limits!” Sun said, beginning to move towards the center of the play area with them in his arms.

Hugo wasn’t all that happy to be scooped up when they reached the edge of the desk. But they took a minute to think on Sun’s words. He thought their politeness ‘nice’, and sure they hadn’t been outright hostile towards the robot, their actions hadn’t exactly been kind either. Just neutral. This robot was either not programmed to detect neutrality or was simply trying to be polite itself.

“Vy can I not go behind zee desk? Are zere important documents zat are not meant for zee regular person?” They asked, standing well enough when Sun placed them down. The child looked between the two play structures to figure out which area to go to next.

“That’s the security desk! Only security is allowed back there. No one else!” Sun said, shaking his head as he set them down. He swayed from side to side, giggling.

“But that’s okay, because we have plenty of entertainment right here! We don’t need anything from behind there. After you’re all situated, we can get started on arts and crafts! I’ve got markers that smell like bubble gum!” He cheered, hopping up and down now. His high energy knew no bounds.

The security desk was off limits, that made sense but…
“You should add zee desk to your rules.” The kid said as they looked back up at the animatronic. Hugo remained low energy and still had a flat tone of voice.

Sun perked at that. “Oh, you’re right! I’ll add that to my list of rules! Good idea.” He praised, moving alongside them.

Hugo nodded and then started to wander off again, looking the play structures over. Head tilting at the thick wire trailing down a pole and stuck into the floor. It looked like a power cord…or perhaps a power line that a generator might use. “Vat is zis vire for? Is somezing electrical in here?”

Glancing at the wires, Sun tilted his head. “This is… a new addition to the daycare.” There was some frustration in his tone, try as he might to cover it up. It was difficult to keep little hands off of wires. He wished he could have them lining the security booth instead of being within the structures. He had been trying to get them to change it, but no one ever listened to what he had to say. He stared at the wires, gaze trailing up towards the play structure, before he quickly looked back to Hugo.

“Yes, to keep the lights on, we have generators scattered around. It makes my job a teeny bit more difficult,” A lot more difficult. Whose genius idea was this? Sun’s scowl could slightly be heard in his voice, but he still attempted to keep it light. “But! It’s okay, because they’re just working hard to make sure rules aren’t broken!” He nodded. “Let’s keep our hands off of the generators, though!” He perked. “Oh, that can be another rule! I’ll have to start writing these down! Great work, super sleuth!” He gave two thumbs up.

The kid’s gaze followed the wire into what seems to be the second floor of the play structure. Their expression became more perplexed. “Vy vould you need generators for zis section of zee building? Vy are keepink zee lights on so important?” Hugo asked curiously and looked to Sun.

“I vould zink you all vould need to turn zem off efentually.”

“The lights stay on so that no scary monsters can come out, of course!” Sun effortlessly replied. “That’s why it’s the most important rule…!” He bounced from side to side, giggling. “The power may go out sometimes but the generator keeps everything up and running so we can keep playing no matter what!”

There the robot went spouting about monsters again. Hugo just frowned a little in disapproval, the kid wasn’t very upbeat, acting more mature than their age. Though it still had the vibe of a kid trying to pretend to be an adult. As they didn’t have the full grasp of adult responsibilities.

Sun leaned in, content to try and change the subject. “Soooo… Your dad reserved this whooole room just for you! You must be a very special person, huh!” He bobbed his head a few times. “It’s so exciting! I’ve never had this happen before! This is so much fun! Are you having fun yet? Huh? Are ya? Are ya??”

“I am special to ozers, but if it veren’t for mine fazur’s business and name I vould only be anozer person.” Hugo responded, not answering if they were having fun or not yet. To them the answer should be obvious. They finally started to go into a play structure to explore around, seeing if they could find a generator. Then seeing if they could climb to the top of the structure.

“Well, you might think that about yourself, but I think you’re special to me! I don’t even know anything about your dad…!” Sun happily said with a confident nod of his head. He watched them climb into the tubes and bounced on his toes, not seeming to really mind that they ignored his other question. In his mind, they could have gotten distracted. Kids’ attention could be pulled every which way at just a moment’s notice. He was very accustomed to that.

Hugo didn’t reply again when Sun said that they’re special to the bot. They figure it was meant to say that for everyone.

The generator was in the cross section of a couple of the tubes, wires meticulously taped up with black electrical tape. The tape was bulky and overdone, implying that Sun was likely the one that taped it up so much. There were a few big red pieces of tape over what appeared to be either a switch or a button, blocking most small hands from fussing with them. Though, for anyone with fine motor skills, it didn’t look like it would be much of a hindrance. It was clear that Sun didn’t usually deal with people older than four or five years old.

“Do we have a hamster in here? Huh? Where’d the hamster go??” Sun cooed into the tube, shrill giggling heard as he put his hands over his mouth.

The child paused when they heard Sun cooing at them. Their nose wrinkled and they didn’t bother dignifying that with an answer. Hugo looked the generator over once they found it, ripping some of the tape off to put it in other spots that would keep the wire more out of the way and lessen the pressure for the main taped points. Whoever put this tape up obviously wasn’t a technician.

“Uh-! Hey! Don’t touch the generators, please!” Sun fretted, his eyes brightening just slightly when he heard the tape being undone. That was… not reassuring. His shoulders raised slightly. But despite the sounds of some tape being undone, the generator remained on. Hugo predictably ignored his words, remaining silent.

After rearranging the tape, Hugo climbed alongside the walls of the playground. Looking at spots where it opened up before coming to the conclusion that it would be easier scaling the bars up to the top…or climbing up on the outside of a slide. After confirming that there was no way to the top on the inside, they went down the slide and out of the playground, looking the other half of the structure over. There was a bridge between the two, and more generators in both. Intrigued, Hugo went to see if the tape was done just as badly for the rest. Following a wire Hugo found one on the bottom level.

Sun perked when he saw them exit through the slide. He would have to redo whatever they undid and make sure it didn’t happen again.

“The hamster came out! Hello!” Sun bounded after them, bells jingling loudly as he eagerly waved and hurried alongside them. His tone of voice was slightly strained now, but he still did his best to be cheery. He skipped now, peering around the structure. “You won’t find any lettuce in there.” He laughed louder, hands over his mouth as he watched them approach the generator. He didn’t interfere when they looked at it; children are curious and he wasn’t going to stop them from being curious. However… if they were to touch this one too, that would be a different story. He was prepared to scoop them up the second they reached out, if they chose to do so.

“But if you end up getting hungry, I’m sure I can find some hamster treats for you somewhere!”

Again, the Sun’s request (along with what the rest of the robot said) went ignored by Hugo as they reached the generator. Like the other generator, this one had been all taped up too. There was even more tape on this one than the other one, likely because Sun passed by this one more often than the others, making the animatronic pay more attention to it.

Hugo looked at the horrendous clumps of tape and shook their head. Seriously, who allowed this amount of tape to be used like this? The child reached forward to rip some more tape from the wire. Unbothered by what they were doing as they believed to be fixing the problem they were seeing.

Having been prepared for that exact moment, Sun grabbed them the second that they lifted their hand, pulling them into his arms, up and away from the generator. “Oh, hah-! Looks like you might not have heard me, friend!” He said. “I said no touching the generator, okay?” He emphasized his words, more strain to his voice now, but he still had that chipper front up.

“Let’s try something else! I’ve got construction paper, safety scissors, glue, and markers with your name on ‘em! That sounds fun, riiight?” He coaxed.

Being lifted away from their self assigned task made the kid frown and try to wriggle out Sun’s grasp. “I vas going to fix zee shoddy tape job in zere. However, scissors vould be helpful in zis.” Hugo argued as Sun tried to take them away from that generator.

“Nope! No touching the generator means no touching the generator! Sorry!” Sun replied, a little huff heard. “The tape is there for your safety! And that’s the reason it needs to stay.” He set them down near the craft table. “Alright! Now that we ALL understand how important that tape is, let’s have some real fun, okay?”

"It teknically is not zee generator zat I am touching." Hugo said and folded their arms as Sun carried them to the table. "And I don't know if our definitions of 'fun' exactly align...vat is it you vant to do?"

“Oh but it is attached to the generator, so it counts! And if you need me to say it clearly, then I can do that too! Please don’t touch the tapes!” Sun hummed, nodding.

“Now, I was thinking we could do some arts and crafts! You know, really stretch those creative muscles! Really express ourselves!” He sat down on one of the comically tiny chairs at the table, setting Hugo down next to him. “You can draw or paint or be creative with these tools! I’ll even join you and draw something too!”

The child stared at Sun for a moment before looking down at the table. It was too small for the both of them, they weren't exactly the demographic age for this place. Pushing a chair to the side Hugo opted to sit on the floor. They watched Sun for now. Seeing what things they would have available to them.

Sun seemed a lot more content with them going along with what he said. He began humming, working on his own drawing. He took a marker into his hand and began crudely drawing two figures holding hands. He drew jagged triangles around the taller one’s head and began scribbling brown on the smaller one’s— giving them sloppily drawn rectangles for eyes. The animatronic then began drawing green grass and a blue sky, with some trees that looked more like green lollipops than anything else. He seemed really happy with his work, sitting back to admire it once he deemed it as a finished product.

Hugo looked to the pencils and markers, then at the paper and scissors. They indulged by taking a ruler and using it to draw lines on the paper. Eventually they drew out a bunch of squares. Cutting along the outside lines Hugo was rewarded with a flat rectangle with some odd bits sticking out. They then folded the paper into a cube, before flattening it out again and using a marker to put dots onto the paper. They grabbed some glue and put the cube back together. Eventually they ended up with a paper 6 sided die. The kid rolled it towards Sun and got a 4 once it stopped.

"....got efen today."

Sun’s eyes brightened and his shoulders raised when he saw what they had made, the animatronic letting out a high-pitched sound. “WOW!” He exclaimed. “Wow, that looks amazing! I’ve never seen anyone make one of those before!”
Sun picked up the die and held it in his hands, turning it over a few times. “This is so cool!” His reaction was genuinely joyful, no patronizing tone at all.

"It is not very difficult to make. I learned how vith mine geometry instructor." Hugo stated as Sun played with the paper a little bit. They pocketed the scissors while the robot was distracted. Looking over the other papers, the child gestured to them.

"Vould you like me to show you how to make some geometry?"

Sun eagerly nodded at their question, tossing the die between his hands. He was thoroughly enthralled by what they had accomplished with just a simple sheet of paper. “Yes! Yes, yes yes! Show me, please!” He said, finally setting the die to the side as he tried to give them his full attention.

Grabbing another piece of paper, Hugo explained that most of what they would do is measure out the shape they want, using the equations they learned. They drew the cube shape again and cut it out, showing Sun how to fold it before drawing a triangle and making a paper pyramid. Hugo did this for most of the rest of the shapes. Only leaving out the sphere because that was more difficult for them to do.

"Honestly once you figure out how to use numbers and a ruler, zee rest becomes fery easy to put togzer."

Sun perked up a little as they talked to him about their process in creating each shape. Usually the type to be more unfocused, Sun uncharacteristically listened well to everything they had to say, even leaning in a little when they demonstrated.

“Impressive…!” The animatronic exclaimed, outstretching his hands and gently lifting the pyramid before turning it over a few times. “Thank you for showing me…! It’s wonderful!” Sun said, beginning to use the ruler to measure out some more shapes. He meticulously folded the paper together in order to make a cube, sealing the edges with glue. “Look! Look, I did it!” He exclaimed, showing it off.

Hugo just gave Sun a nod, no 'good job' or even 'nice' from the kid. In fairness to them, they never got much in the way of positive reinforcement, so it didn't even cross their mind to say that. A simple nod was the highest form of a compliment for them. Hugo looked at the leftover sheets of paper before looking back at Sun. "You may vant to get some more papers, vee are starting to run low."

Sun quickly nodded at them, standing up from his chair. “You got it! I’ll grab another stack! Sit tight, I’ll be riiiight back!” He excitedly said, gently tapping them on the nose with a playful lilt to his voice. He set his cube down on the table before hurrying towards the small storage area to get supplies.

Watching Sun skip away Hugo stood up and rubbed at their nose. Bleh, boops. The kid looked at a wire snaking along the floor. They knew going for a generator on the bottom floor was only going to get them caught quicker, so they followed a wire that led around to a different side of the playground. Going in as quietly as possible. They had some practice in sneaking as most people required sleep when they were awake. And it was just better to do things without being heard to avoid anyone interrupting them. Hugo climbed up to the third floor of the playground and found a generator. The tape clumps were about to face a new foe. Safety scissors.

Sun, meanwhile, grabbed some construction paper- the type that was better quality than some of the others that he had. Hugo could make 3d art. That definitely called for better quality paper. He grabbed some extra markers for good measure, heading back towards the table.

…

Huh.

They were… not here.

Sun set the paper down on the table and quickly glanced around.

“Hugo…? Hey Hugo…! Where’d you go?” Sun exclaimed, beginning to fret. “Friend???”

The child was no stranger to rubber casing of wires, they did wonder why this particular one was so...thin? The more they learned about these generators, the more they found they were incredibly cheap. For a big company like Fazco, Hugo would've thought they'd go for something more quality. Their thoughts were interrupted by Sun calling out for them. Well, better get to it before the robot finds them.

Carefully, the child looked at the layers of tape, going for the middle part of the layers to avoid accidentally cutting the rubber of the wire. They cut slowly to avoid making much sound and to see how well the scissors cut the tape, and pleased to see that the scissors cut tape without much resistance.

“Friend??” Sun could be heard again, louder now. By this point, he had already begun hurrying throughout the daycare, trying to locate where they may have wandered off to. “Hugo! Where are you?! Where did you go? This is not time for hide and seek, you know! We’re playing arts and crafts now…! Don’t you want to fold more paper??” He figured out pretty quickly that Hugo wasn’t anywhere out in the open. Upon having this realization, Sun hastily began climbing through the tubes, able to move his gangly body through it without any issue.

The kid, again, paid Sun no mind at first, pulling the clump of tape off and placing it a little behind the generator, effectively taping the wire to the floor. The double placement was a standard and they weren't about to let this cheap and heavy wire get yanked out. Hugo worked on the next clump. Doing the same to it before pausing at the sound of Sun crawling around in the tube above them. Time to go.

Putting the scissors away the kid quietly made their way down to the ground level. They popped out close to the security desk. They stared at the desk for a moment, a fleeting thought to hide there, but they decided against it for now as they didn't need to do that yet. They walked calmly back to the table, not caring if Sun saw them or not.

Sun crawled through the tubes, scouring them for the missing kid. He had already pulled himself through one of them and onto a platform when he finally heard them walking towards the table. Sun peered through the netting of the play structure. His hands gripped tight to them as he watched in awe for a few seconds.

Before promptly launching himself down the slide and tumbling out onto the ground in a tangled heap that scrambled to right itself.

“Hugo!!!” Sun exclaimed, racing towards them, practically stumbling over his own feet. “Are you okay?! You’re not hurt, are you? What happened? You— you didn’t answer me when I called for you! Did something happen?!” The animatronic began to fret, hurriedly scooping the child up into his arms.

Hugo watched from their spot as Sun came tumbling out of the slide, before the animatronic sprang up and was upon them. They squeaked a little in surprise at being scooped up. They tried to push away from Sun as this was too much in their personal bubble.

"I am fine, vas just looking for a suitable place to sleep! Since the lights vill be on, I vanted to find a darker part of zee room! Zat is all!" The child explained, lying pretty effortlessly despite being a bit flustered by Sun's fretting. They hadn't had anyone this worried about them before in a long while.

Sun allowed them to push his face away, though he still held them under their armpits. “But you didn’t say anything when I called to you. I was worried…! Why didn’t you answer me?” The animatronic looked them over a little bit, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw they were unharmed. “And… If you were getting sleepy, you should have told me…! I could have helped with that!” He offered.

“I’ve got some blankets set to the side for naptime…! And we could always do more arts and crafts later if you’re getting sleepy.” Sun brought them towards some cubbies, shifting them into one of his arms as he picked up a pile of blankets as well as a pillow from within.

“I returned ven you did, I didn’t zink I needed to answer.” The child replied, not exactly happy with Sun holding onto them. Being small enough for the tall robot to hold onto them with one arm was awkward at best and embarrassing at worst! But they settled down enough to watch Sun retrieve blankets and a pillow. Perhaps they could use these somehow. Like making a tent, or setting them up on the bottom floor close to the generator. It was an idea at least.

“You vere busy. I thought it better to find a place on mine own.”

Sun shook his head. “No no no…! When I call out, please answer me!” He said. “It’s very important that I know where you are just in case! It worries me…! If you don’t answer, I get nervous.” He sighed, pausing for a moment. “I just want to keep you safe, so please answer me when I call you, okay?” He pulled them close to his chest, going into the play structure and towards one of the bottom corners. It was not very dark here at all, but it had less light than the rest of the daycare.

Sun started setting down the blankets, arranging them into a bed-like shape. He put the pillow down at the ‘top’ of it and then put Hugo in the center of the pile of blankets, the child in question huffing a little.

“If I needed help I vould have let you know. As it is, I vould appreciate it if you refrain from picking me up like zat. It is uncomfortable.” Hugo stubbornly replied, they weren’t about to admit to being wrong. A reoccurring theme for the child, they didn’t seem to think they are wrong whatever the case may be.

The kid did seem to relax slightly when Sun put them down, but they scooted as far back as they could. To the darkest spot in the corner. They picked up a blanket and began to hang it up to block even more light from getting in. At least Sun could see that the kid was a diligent worker for whatever they thought the situation called for.

Sun tilted his head. “Not if you were knocked out or abducted or—” He said, almost absentmindedly, before cutting himself off and shaking his head. “But that’s not the point. Even if you don’t agree, can you do that one little thing for me? It helps me feel better if I know where you a-A-!”

Sun’s hand abruptly grabbed Hugo’s, pulling it downwards to make sure not too much light was blocked out by the blankets. “H— Hanging things up is a big no-no!” He said, already beginning to explain himself- Hugo was obviously inquisitive, Sun would expect their first reaction to be ‘why?’, so he didn’t even give them an opportunity to ask. “It could cause a hazard if done improperly. People could trip or get hooked by things if they’re running around…!”

Hugo looked irritated when Sun grabbed their hands and pulled down their work.
Sun’s frantic words began to shift into a more sympathetic tone of voice.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s hard to sleep with lights on, but rules are rules.” He tried to think about how to cover their eyes to help block out light without becoming a hazard, but anything that would block eyes could potentially block nose and mouth, making it a hazard for breathing. “Maybe… maybe you can cover your eyes with your hands!” Sun demonstrated. His hands were massive. They covered almost his entire face. He uncovered them after a moment. “See! That’s pretty good, right! Try that…!”

The explanation didn’t seem all that satisfactory to Hugo even when Sun tried to give them a different solution.

“It’s only you and me, zere is no one else to trip on zese blankets.” They argued.

“Rules are rules!” Sun blurted, rapidly shaking his head, causing the kid to pause as they seemed to realize something.

“Sun. Are you afraid of zee dark?”

Sun froze up for a moment before beginning to fidget, continuing to rapidly shake his head. “No, of course not…! It’s just less safe in the dark is all…! Most accidents happen when you can’t see very well. That’s it.” He stammered, glancing to the side.

“Let’s… just try to settle down, okay? You’ve got tinted glasses…! I think this should be dim enough to get you some rest.” He reasoned, forcing some more cheeriness into his tone. “Would you like me to tell you a story?“

Hugo listened as Sun explained and denied being afraid of the dark. This intrigued the kid. “Mine glasses allow for me to see ven zere is a large amount of light. Zey do help in zis area to make it a little darker…but, zey do not compare to the dark I am used to.” The child explained before lifting a blanket and covering themselves with it. “I suppose zis vill just have to do.” Hugo removed their glasses and put them in their pocket. Closing their eyes as even the dim light irritated their sensitive eyes. “If telling a story would ease your thoughts. Zhen go ahead.”

Sun sat down next to them with his legs crossed. He was glad to have the topic changed. “Okay, good! That’s perfect!” He said, nodding a few times as he watched their silhouette remove their glasses.

The glasses. Keep an eye on the glasses. Mustn’t let glasses exit this part of the daycare. Hugo could not be without glasses. They put them in their pocket. Is that a good decision? That was most certainly not a good decision. It’s a very bad one actually.

“Well it’s up to you if you want a story or not, silly! Do you do better with them, or do you fall asleep better without them?” Sun asked before pausing. “Are you sure you wanna put your glasses in your pocket? You might roll onto them and break them.” He points out. “Maybe you should put them on the ground next to you.”

“Typically I just go to sleep, sometimes I vill turn zee radio on in mine room to zee classical station and listen to zat…however zee background noise you have here may make it harder for me to get to sleep.” The child said as they finally actually noticed the barrage of noises that could loosely be called ‘music’. Hugo huffed at Sun’s question about their glasses. “Zey vill be fine in mine pocket. I do not vish to lose zem and I vill not if zey are somevere on mine person.”

Sun fidgetted a little. They wanted to keep the glasses on them. That seemed… like a bad idea but… okay. He could tell that this kid was very stubborn and that’s one fight that he didn’t feel like having. The glasses were probably pretty sturdy and he could imagine that having them close was a comfort. Like having a stuffed animal nearby.

“Okay…! Well, if the music isn’t helping, maybe I can tell you a story to help you get to sleep.” Sun swayed back and forth. Once they’re asleep, he’d have to start redoing all the tape that they messed up. Not looking forward to that. Sun hummed and tapped his chin. “My stories are usually targeted for younger kids. Let me see what I’ve got in my catalogue…” He tilted his head. “Oh! What about Peter Pan? Or Pinocchio! Have you ever heard of those?” He asked.

As the animatronic decided on what to say next, Hugo laid down. Gathering more blankets around themselves to keep more light out. There was the tiniest opening to allow air to flow in, and it faced away from the light that filters through the bars.“I have heard zee both of zem, Pinocchio vill do.”

Their reply was muffled by blankets as Hugo curled up on the side their glasses weren’t on. Trying to get comfortable on the play mat.

“Pinocchio! Great choice!” Sun settled, beginning to set the scene as he brought them through the story of Pinocchio. It was obviously a very sugar-coated version of the original story. His way of telling it removed any of the grit from the original, really leaning heavily into a Disney type of storytelling. Magic and whimsy coated every aspect of it.

Unlike the original, which had Pinocchio as a rebellious and awful child who killed his own conscience, Sun much preferred to tell the version where Pinocchio is just an innocent boy who doesn’t know any better and learns to become a better person through following his conscience. The horrors of the donkey transformation scene were also gone, replaced with a much more child-friendly version in which Pinocchio used his good will to help his friends out of the awful situation.

And as is with most modern tellings of children’s fairytales, it ended with everyone happy and good and wonderful. Sun finished the story with a very cliché ‘and they all lived happily ever after’ for good measure.

Hugo listened instead of falling asleep. This version of the story was not one they heard, and they weren't sure they really liked it all that much. It felt way too happy. Too unrealistic. What lesson was there to be learned here other than 'be a saint to get good things'? Where were the stakes? The consequences? Hugo frowned under those blankets, but didn't say anything and slowed their breathing. Attempting to look like they were asleep. The kid had a new plan once they could get the sun to leave. Make this corner dark so he couldn't come back.

Sun became quiet when Hugo’s breathing slowed, humming just a little. He gently rubbed their shoulder before standing up and then walking away. Now to fix the generator.

He moved towards the one that he had been aware of due to the sounds of tape being ripped off (he was unaware of the other, since they had quietly used scissors). He pulled out some tape and began to wrap it around the wire so that it couldn’t be pulled out, and then slapped a piece of tape over the power switch. The tape around the wire became very bulky as he kept wrapping layers over it.

He paused, looking at the tape that had been used to tape the wires to the floor. Very odd. So they weren’t trying to turn the generators off. What the heck were they trying to do then? Just… hold the wire in place on the ground? In Sun’s opinion, the tape holding the wire to the socket was far more important than that so that it couldn’t be yanked out by little hands.

Hugo waited as Sun looked them over and gave them a back rub(?), they weren't sure what that was about. They listened to the sounds of the bells and clinks of gears fade before sitting up. Time to make their own private nook. Getting their glasses out of their pocket they placed them back on their face. Unfurling a blanket, they tucked the ends of it into the upper crevices of the 'ceiling', tugging on it to make sure it stayed there. After being certain it wouldn't come down easily, Hugo then tucked the bottom ends between the bars and the playmat.

Earning one wall of blanket, they worked on the next for the opposite end. Since the back end was thankfully blocked with a nice thick blue plastic wall. Having one blanket left they chose to use that as a normal blanket and settle back down. Placing their glasses back in their pocket, Hugo was much more content. They were more accustomed to the dark, and having so much light around was less comfortable for the child. It was simply nice to have a place that was just for them.

Sun finished putting an absurd amount of tape to secure the wire to the socket, standing back to admire his handiwork. Oh that looked perfect! Even better than before, in fact. The animatronic then walked back towards the part of the play structure where Hugo was resting, surprised to see the area almost entirely covered in blankets. Leaving no ability for him to truly enter the area.

“…”

His hands clenched into fists and he marched over to the outer portion of the play structure. He tried to pull the blankets down by sticking his fingers through the grates and attempting to hook them into the blanket.

The kid, meanwhile, had been dozing off by the time Sun came back. Unaware of the animatronic clawing at the blanket that was meticulously tucked in along the ceiling of the bottom platform and the floor. It was difficult to get at it from the side Sun was at, his smooth fingers weren't very equipped at grabbing at the blanket. But his finger joints were able to snag a fold in the blanket. Making it easy for him to jerk the blanket down, and since he was a robot, it was a little easier for him to do compared to a human. If it were a human, they'd struggle with the way Hugo had tucked the blanket.

Sun, growing increasingly frustrated the more he had to struggle with getting it, ended up ripping the blanket when he finally managed to snag it. The animatronic quickly let go; he didn’t realize his own strength. He shook his head. Either way, the light was pouring into the area now, so he could get in. He moved into their nook pretty quickly, grabbing at the other blankets and hurrying to pull them down too.

The sound of ripping caused Hugo to lift their head and open their eyes. The light flooding in caused them to recoil back and hiss in pain, small hands covering their eyes as best as they could.

"Ach! Was zur Hölle, du dummer Roboter?!"
(Agh! What was that for, you stupid robot?!)

They exclaimed, withdrawing under a blanket as the other blanket wall came down. The front of their head hurt from the light that they unintentionally looked at.
"Vhat is your problem? I vas sleeping and you vere still able to see me!"

Sun jumped a little when they hissed in pain, quickly moving to drape more blankets over them to block the light from their eyes. “Sorry-! Sorry.” He immediately apologized. It was never his intention to cause them any hurt, his frustration temporarily forgotten in the panic of having accidentally caused pain. “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” He fretted.

“I — I told you we couldn’t have things hung up, and you hung up blankets anyway…! I — I had to take them down, it’s not allowed! Oh gosh, are your eyes okay?” He fussed, towering over them to help block out some more light.

They were silent for a little bit as Sun began to try to do damage control. Hugo sucked in a breath and held it for a moment, then exhaled slowly as the pain ebbed a little.

"I'm fine. Ich dachte, wenn ich dich einfach rauslasse, wäre es ok.
...Warum können Sie die Regel nicht außer Acht lassen, wenn niemand sonst in der Nähe ist?"
(I thought if I just left you out, it would be ok.
Why can't you ignore the rule if nobody else is nearby?)

The child responded in mostly German as they weren't in the correct head space to speak English at the moment. Though they did sound pretty upset at what Sun did, a small waver in their voice from the brief stab of pain.

Sun’s language automatically updates to German as they speak to him.
“Es tut mir Leid.” (I'm sorry.)
”Das liegt nicht in meiner Natur. Ich muss die Regeln befolgen, egal was passiert.”
(That's not in my nature. I have to follow the rules no matter what happens.)
He apologized profusely, bowing his head a few times.
”Nein, so funktioniert das leider nicht. Bitte verzeihen Sie mir.”
(No, it doesn’t work that way. Please forgive me.)
He leaned in a little, continuing to fuss.

Hugo groaned a little bit but seemed to calm down as they focused on just trying to get the pain to go away.

"Haben Sie Schmerzmittel?" (You have painkillers?)

They asked, voice a little quieter now and they shifted under the blanket. Putting their glasses back on before experimentally cracking open their eyes. Blinking a couple times. It hurt but they knew the ache would fade in a few minutes.

Sun nodded a few times, staying hovering over their form until their goggles were back on, so that his large shadow protected their eyes from any more hurt.

“Ja, ich habe Medikamente.” (Yeah, I have medication.)
He said. With a little hesitance, he sat up, the light of the room able to be cast on them again.
“Gib mir einen Moment. Ich werde es schaffen. Bleib sitzen.”
(Give me a moment. I'll get it. Stay there.)

The child nodded when Sun told them to wait. They turned to face the wall when the robot moved away so the light didn't irritate them.

Sun was quick to rush out and grab some small cups of liquid acetaminophen. The usual dose for a very small child was contained in each cup, Hugo would certainly need more than one. He made his way into their corner again, kneeling next to them and pulling out an oral syringe.

“Wie viel wiegst du?” (How much do you weigh?)

Hugo’s head turned when Sun came back.

"I veigh arount 34kg..." They answered, this time in English, and peered out of the blanket to see what Sun had.

Sun nodded and opened up two of the cups, drawing up some liquid medication into the oral syringe. His language automatically swapped back to English without a hitch. “Okay, good…! I’ve calculated the right dose. This is a special syrup, it’s good for taking care of headaches. Before I give it to you, do you have any allergies I should know about?”

That’s all he needed, for the kid to be blinded and then have an allergic reaction. No sir, Sun was going to be very meticulous about this. He allowed them to see the package so they could read the name of the med if they wanted to. It was just generic Tylenol.

Hugo looked at the package and recognized the medication. "I am not allergic to zis one. I hafe yet to find a medication I am allergic to, so far I hafe only reacted to pollen." Hugo held a hand out to get the cup Sun had.

"....Zank you."

“Okay, good. No known allergies, that’s great! You’re welcome, I’m very sorry about that again. I never meant for you to get hurt. I hope this helps you feel better.” Sun moved the cup away from them and held the oral syringe up. “Here you go! Open up, I’ll administer it.” He said, bringing it to their mouth with his thumb on the plunger of the oral syringe in preparation. The kid tilted their head as Sun moved the cup away and held up the syringe. They lifted more of the blanket up to take the medication. It’s weird to Hugo that the animatronic used that instead of just letting them drink from the cup.

“There you go!” Sun hummed, depressing the plunger to administer the medication. He seemed sympathetic when their face scrunched at the taste. It was grape flavored, but the medication was able to be tasted through it, it seemed.

"Vell. I guess I'll just go to the ball pit to rest." Hugo sighs and started to get up.

Sun’s eyes flickered a few times as he tilted his head when they began to talk. “Oh, that’s actually a really good idea! Ball pits are cozy, aren’t they…! I guess you can lay in there for a little bit! Just be careful!” He hurried up to the ball pit and dove inside, colorful plastic balls going everywhere. Then, he popped out. “Come on in! It’s wonderful in here!”

The child wandered over to the ball pit, watching Sun jump in before the robot called to them. They looked down at the colorful plastic balls from the edge...they then slowly leaned over and face-planted into the pit. Slowly sinking down into the plastic pit. What a strange child.

“Hah!” Sun bursted out laughing, hands over his mouth as he began racing for them. “That’s one way to do it!” He dove beneath the balls and quickly righted them onto their back (force of habit) before going back to ‘swimming’.

Hugo was a little puzzled when Sun flipped them over, shifting again so they were on their belly. Digging themself down to the bottom. The child reached the bottom and they shifted the plastic balls around so they could breathe easier. Before bringing the blanket around them and settling down to sleep. The balls did an ok job to prevent too much light from reaching them. They took their glasses off once more and put them in their pocket. Time to try to sleep again.

Sun ‘swam’ through the ball pit for a while, giggling. He was so happy that they'd found a good compromise. Soon, he crawled out of the ball pit once he was sure that Hugo wasn’t going to suffocate down there.

There’s work to be done! The fool happily jingled across the room. He could not stop moving, so the jingling continued, but thankfully he moved further away so the jingling got softer as time went along.

Hugo grumbled a little bit more at all the noise before settling down again. This time actually falling asleep, and there they slept for the next 10 hours. Delilah left after checking in around 3pm, making sure to tell the animatronic that she was clocking out and to expect a different nanny to show for the next shift.

Sun politely thanked Delilah for notifying him of that and assured her that Hugo was a joy, and that they were in great hands. Of course, he kept periodically checking in on them to make sure they were okay down there. Just sleeping, still.

Ughh when were they going to wake up?

Throughout the hours, Sun alternated between checking on Hugo and moving throughout the daycare to clean and maintain everything. He ended up discovering the second generator that was messed with, growing a little upset about it but just using the time to tape it back again.

6PM came… and still no word from anyone, leaving the animatronic puzzled. Well, no word from anyone except the overhead speakers, which caused Sun to jump a little.

“Thank you for visiting the Pizzaplex. Please make your way to the exits now, as the Pizzaplex will be closing early for maintenance.” The overhead announcement rang out.

What did they mean they were closing early tonight for… maintenance?? 6pm was prime time for customers! They couldn’t close now, they weren’t supposed to close until midnight! Hugo hadn't been picked up yet!

After hearing the overhead announcement, Sun grew more nervous, hurrying towards the security desk, before stopping immediately as he got to the spot that separated it from the rest of the daycare. He needed to use the phone. He had to notify someone.

Sun struggled a little, trying to step over the line to go behind the desk, foot shaking. No. He quickly withdrew himself. He couldn’t go into the security booth. He was not authorized to do so.

Sun speed-walked around the circumference of the security area. No matter what angle he went from, he couldn’t bring himself to cross that threshold.
There had to be someone still around! The animatronic had to work quickly, though.

Sun hurriedly made his way to the ball pit, hopping inside and diving under to lift Hugo up beneath their armpits. He didn’t bring them above the top, making sure they had enough time to put their glasses back on.

“Wakey wakey!” He cheerfully exclaimed, though there was definitely a heavy dose of nervousness to his tone of voice. “Time to get up, friend! Wanna go on a field trip?”

Hugo was roused from their slumber, they'd probably have woken up naturally in half an hour or so, but Sun had no way to know that. They groaned that tired groan most tend to have when being woken up. Fishing their glasses from their pocket Hugo put them on their face.

"Mmm, vvvaaat?"

They asked groggily. It seemed they were the type that required some time to wake up.

“Gooood morning, sleepyhead!” Sun said, bringing them above the surface once they had put their glasses on. “Up and at’em! We’ve gotta start moving!” He set them on the ground, grabbing a few flashlights from the cubbies and handing one to Hugo. “Here, take this and hold onto it tight, okay? I’m gonna hold onto your free hand, okay? Don’t let go.” With that, Sun took a flashlight for himself and clipped it around the ruffle on his waist.

“All set? Got everything you need? Good?”

Being set on the ground, the child seemed a bit confused as to why the robot was a little more frantic than what they had seen. They didn't recall doing anything to elicit this response, so that only meant something went wrong somewhere else.

"Vat vill I need a flashlight for?" They asked with some curiousness in their flat tone.
"Vere are vee going? Did somezing happen?"

“Everything is good!” Sun replied. “Juuuust a little teeny tiny itty bitty mixup.” He hummed. “Seems like they’re closing up early and maybe forgot to notify your caretaker about that. So we’re going to find a security guard and see if they can help us get in touch with someone for you.”

Sun looked down at Hugo. “The flashlight is for safety. If you see any monsters, just shine that right into their eyes and they’ll leave you alone, okay?” He moved towards the big wooden doors and pushed them open. Lights were still on for now. Good. But they’d have to work quickly.

"....Zat does not sound fery good. I vill call zee agency my fazur hires to let zem know zat someone should come."

The child said and took out the newest model of an iPhone. The thing looked fancy, the kid unlocking it with their fingerprint. Scrolling through their contacts they pressed on the one that's labeled 'Nanny Dispenser' in German. They put the phone to their face and waited until the secretary picked up. Sun listened to the one-sided conversation, bending down slightly to see if he was able to hear anything else (with no such luck) as Hugo began to speak.

"Hello, ja it's me. I am calling to say you vill need to send someone sooner zan vat vas scheduled. Zee pizza plex is closing early...no I do not know vy. I vas voken up...mhm. Un hour? I do not zink zee pizza plex vill still be open zen...ok. I vill vait. Good bye." Hugo then hung up and looked up at Sun.

"Zee soonest zey can get someone ofer is one hour. Zee usual nanny is out sick today. Ozervise I may have to vait zree to fife hours." Hugo folded their arms. "I know my fazur vill dock zem for zis."

Sun’s shoulders raised a little. An hour?! Wait no- three to FIVE hours?! This was bad, this was very bad.

“FIVE hours?” Sun exclaimed, before trying to force some calm into his voice. “N— No, we will most certainly not be open that long! They’re closing up now! I-I mean, not that I mind watching over you, of course! But we need to make sure that security is aware of this! Then we can settle back into the daycare and wait.” He started rushing along the path, exiting the daycare area with their hand firmly in his own.

“I’m sure that there’s a security guard around here somewhere…!”

When Sun took their hand and began leaving the daycare, Hugo put their phone away and tied the flashlight to their wrist. They always liked having at least one hand free. "Fife hours at zee most." They said, having to trot to keep up with the robot. "Do you know vat caused zee pizzaplex to close so early? I thought zat zey vere open until midnight?"

“N— no, not really sure! They just announced it…! Something about… maintenance? Or something?” Sun began running along, finally entering the atrium.

The building was… empty.
So empty… what the heck happened?

The animatronic paused, glancing from side to side. He felt uneasy. He felt wrong. He felt a shiver go up his metaphorical spine. He couldn’t explain why he felt like this. Something was just off. All the more reason to hurry.

He quickened his pace, so dead set on reaching the main security office that he missed some small details that they passed over. Small red spatters on the ground. They could have been mistaken for the carpet’s design but… a closer look is all it would take to notice that it’s damp.

Hugo hummed and thought over possible accidents that would be serious enough to close the building. The child looked around the rather empty space. It felt like it wasn't supposed to be like this. The lack of people and other kids was very noticeable by the eerie silence. They looked down when they nearly slipped on something...their nice lavender Prada shoe now had red on the bottom of it. And they didn't think it was ketchup. The child noticed the splatters trailing along in the same direction they were going. Hugo pulled on Sun's arm to try to get the robot's attention, their accent becoming a little thicker with their growing nerves.

"Sun. Look on ze grount....iz....iz zat blood?"

Sun was insistent on continuing to move even as his arm was pulled. They had to go! They had to-

Blood.

The word stopped him in his tracks and his body froze up, the animatronic looking down to see… exactly what they described. Fresh blood splatters in the direction they were going. Sun’s shoulders raised.

This was no maintenance closure. It was easy for him to see.

“Um. I—“ Hugo was a smart kid. Sun knew there was no use trying to lie about what it was. Though, as was Sun’s nature, he needed to try to soften the blow as much as possible. After all, they really didn’t know what happened. “Oh, kids have nosebleeds all the time…! I’m— I’m sure it’s just fine.” That seemed reasonable to say.

The child wasn't as gullible as other kids, Sun was right about that, but they also didn't want to believe that something worse than a nosebleed happened either. So they took the explanation for now.

Sun pulled Hugo’s arm a little. “Come on, we’ve not got very long to go. Do you want me to carry you?” He asked, though constantly turned his head to make sure no one else was around or coming towards them.

"I vould like to stay on the grount....but I vould appreciate it if you slowed down a bit." Hugo murmured, their voice still rather flat but held a quiet concern at the growing issues.

Sun glanced back at them now, panic welling up within him. Though, when he heard their tone of voice and saw the very subtle cues in their facial expression, he recognized them as a scared, unsure kid. As much as Hugo pretended to be more mature (and to their credit they were a little more responsible than the average 10 year old), they were still a kid. They only ever had their smarts and the people that their dad hired. They had never truly been alone outside their home, and certainly never been in any real danger. So this was especially scary.

“I— I…” Sun wanted to run. He wanted out of here as soon as possible, but Hugo was far more important right now. He wanted them to be able to stay calm. To have one single thing that they could trust and count on. One stable force. He would be that stability.

“Of course we can slow down.” Sun replied, squeezing their hand reassuringly. “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that we saw someone but we’ll be able to do that whether we run or walk. Thank you.”

They nodded when Sun said that they could slow down. Hugo gave him a small smile. They were still unsure of the whole situation but they really did appreciate Sun's willingness to listen.

Sun reassuringly nodded a few times. Though, try as he might to hold it together, fate was not on his side this night.

THMP. THMP. THMP.

Sun perked at the new sound. There were some footsteps heard towards the top of the staircase in the atrium, causing Sun to pause again, halting his movements entirely. Hugo’s head also turned toward the sound of footsteps. Looking up to see who was on the staircase, moving themself behind Sun.

As they did so, the animatronic also protectively moved in front of them. He didn’t say a word, hoping that the presence would just go away. Unfortunately, no such luck as the presence made itself known.

Atop the staircase in the atrium stood a very familiar, large animatronic with claws. It was lit from the back, so its front was obscured by shadows. It stumbled forward a few steps.

“Hey kiddo. Where ya goin?” The gravelly voice called out.

Sun stepped back just a little, closer to Hugo. Maybe they weren’t seen. As if to quell his doubts, the voice rang out again, more aggressive this time.

“Cotton in yer ears’r somethin? I said, ‘w h ere ya goin’??”